Summary
Contents
Congress and the Nation is the most authoritative reference on congressional trends, actions, and political and policy controversies. This award-winning series documents the most fiercely debated issues in recent American politics, providing a unique retrospective analysis of the policies the U.S. Congress. Organized by policy area, each chapter contains summaries of legislative activity, including bills passed, defeated, or postponed. No other authoritative source guides readers seamlessly through the policy output of the national legislature with the breadth, depth, and authority of Congress and the Nation.
Congress and the Nation is the most authoritative reference on congressional trends, actions, and political and policy controversies. This award-winning series documents the most fiercely debated issues in recent American politics, providing a unique retrospective analysis of the policies the U.S. Congress. Organized by policy area, each chapter contains summaries of legislative activity, including bills passed, defeated, or postponed. No other authoritative source guides readers seamlessly through the policy output of the national legislature with the breadth, depth, and authority of Congress and the Nation.
Congress and the Nation is the most authoritative reference on congressional trends, actions, and political and policy controversies. This award-winning series documents the most fiercely debated issues in recent American politics, providing a unique retrospective analysis of the policies the U.S. Congress. Organized by policy area, each chapter contains summaries of legislative activity, including bills passed, defeated, or postponed. No other authoritative source guides readers seamlessly through the policy output of the national legislature with the breadth, depth, and authority of Congress and the Nation.
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Introduction
The Reagan administration's foreign policy was marked by zeal and pragmatism. When it was zealous, as in trying to rid Nicaragua of communism or to save Lebanon from its warring factions, the administration overextended U.S. power and influence, and it failed. When it was pragmatic, as in negotiating over conflicts in Afghanistan and Southern Africa, it set realistic goals and cooperated with its allies, and it achieved a greater degree of success.
While seemingly contradictory, zeal and pragmatism were central features of President Reagan's personality, and so they became hallmarks of his administration's approach to the world. Reagan took office in 1981 with a few unshakable ideas about foreign affairs. The most important of these was that the Soviet Union was bent on world ...
